


My Tiger

by HighlandYorkie



Category: Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-29
Updated: 2012-02-29
Packaged: 2017-10-31 21:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/348758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighlandYorkie/pseuds/HighlandYorkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on how Professor Moriarty and Colonel Sebastian Moran met</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Tiger

Professor James Moriarty sat as was his want when he had some free time feeding the pigeons in a nearby park while he jotted down notes in his pocket-book.  
  
Leant nonchalantly against a tree, rolling a cigarette was a dark skinned man dressed in clothes that had seen better days,  his head slightly bowed as if he was totally engrossed in his task at hand, whereas in fact he was looking for a suitable victim.  
  
The professor fed the resident flying rat population with an air of a man who was totally oblivious to everything around him, nothing could be further from the truth..  Moriarty never did anything without first calculating all the possible permutations and resulting outcomes from not only his own actions but actions of those that would have a direct affect on himself.  
  
So it was of some surprise to Colonel Sebastian Moran, formally of the Bangalore Pioneers and now currently living, somewhere forgettable when the frail and bemused looking old man grabbed his wrist with a vice like grip has he tried to pick his pocket and avail himself of the mans wallet.  
  
It was bad enough that he had been reduced to pickpocketing but funds were running dry and he had nothing of value left to pawn, apart from his guns and they were far too precious for him to part with, he’d rather starve than pawn his two beauties.  
  
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you”  
  
Sebastian Moran, thought about using the knife he had stashed away in his pocket but before he could reach for it the “frail” looking old man stood and straightened himself and faced him, all the while he kept an all too tight grip on his wrist.  Suddenly this mark didn’t look quite so viable after all, for the “frail, old” man was not quite so old as he had thought plus he taller than himself and much broader in an annoying athletic way.  
  
There was a faint almost inaudible click and Moran looked down to see a glimmer of metal and the unmistakable shape of a rather small but perfectly formed pistol in the mans other hand.  
  
He gulped has he noticed just exactly where the barrel was pointing.  
  
“I’m in a generous mood, therefore I will refrain from killing you or rendering you impotent” the professor spoke softly as he released his would be mugger’s wrist.  
  
Moran looked deep into the eyes of Moriarty and something primeval inside him stirred, he’d seen a gaze like that before, only it was usually on a snake. The vision was completed when Professor Moriarty smiled, not the most pleasant of smiles but one that promised him a slow and agonising death if he lingered too long.  
  
A low hissing filled his ears and it took him a few seconds to realise that it was the man before him laughing at his all too apparent discomfort.  
  
Sebastian Moran’s survival instinct took hold and he fed, grateful that he was still in one piece.  
  
It was some two weeks later when after hocking his prize guns while cursing all pawnbrokers and swearing he’d get even on the thieving bastards that Sebastian Moran staggered down a darkened street, hoping to find somewhere dry at least to sleep after spending the last of his money on drink and a quick tumble or two with a couple of threepenny whores  
  
Though going by the heavy rain, it was a task that would not too easy on a night like this  
  
Tomorrow he would take a chance at one of the remaining clubs he hadn’t been banned from and see if he could manage to blag his way into a game of cards, that would at least line his pockets for a while.  
   
He shivered, but then he always did even when it was considered warm, warm in England was nothing compared to the warmth of India and his bones screamed at him whenever the wind howled, turning up the collar of his overcoat he stuck his hands in his pockets and set off once more.  
  
Moran didn’t notice the black enclosed carriage that was slowly following him, he wouldn’t have known about it at all if not for the fact that it was suddenly there before him and the door swung open  
  
“Get in!” a voice commanded from within the darkness of the carriage  
  
Moran tilted his head and took a half step back as once again his more primeval instincts took over  
  
“Colonel Sebastian Moran, get in now….I will not ask again”  
  
That voice, there was something about it..something so familiar and so commanding.  This was a voice that told you that you had better do as I say or else.  
 _  
“Well at least I’ll be out of the rain”_ he thought to himself as he climbed into the carriage, as the driver once more urged the horses on, Colonel Sebastian Moran paled as a passing street light illuminated the inside of the carriage for a brief moment.  
  
There sat in half shadow was the very man he had tried to rob several days before  
  
“What in the blue blazes!” he exclaimed in surprise.  
  
Moran suddenly felt so very sober and went to reach for the handle to the carriage door when he became aware of the glint of gunmetal pointing directly at him  
  
His temper flared and he let a low growl escape his lips.  
  
“Colonel Moran, if you could reign in that temper of yours, I would like to make you an offer of employment”  
  
“And why do you think I would want to work you, whoever you are”  
  
The man seated in the shadows laughed, not the mirthless laugh he had been treated to in the park, this particular laugh seemed almost human.  
  
“My dear Colonel, whatever makes you think you have a choice”  
  
Moran sat himself back down and swore that this man would not get  the drop on him a third time  
  
“If you care to reach under you, you will find your guns I believe they are still intact and thankfully unmarked by the pawnbroker”  
  
Sebastian, leant forward and reached beneath him, sure enough wrapped in thick cloth were his prized guns, he ran his hand over them in a tender and loving fashion, an action that was not missed by the man sat next to him  
  
“How did you?” he muttered  
  
“You think I was in the park the other week by sheer chance my dear Sebastian, I was there because I knew you would be”  
  
“The name is Colonel Sebastian Moran and I am not your dear anything…mister?”  
  
The shadowy figure edged forward so the passing street light shone upon his features  
  
“My name is Professor Moriarty, James Moriarty…and I am in need of a hired gun”  
  
Moran scoffed “I ain’t good, I’m the bleeding best shot the British Army has ever known”  
  
“So I gather my good colonel, now would three thousand pounds per annum be of interest”  
  
“You take me for a fool Moriarty?” Moran snapped “I mean what would someone like you want with a cove like me”  
  
“Because my dear fellow, I have need of your services your skill with a rifle is unparallelled and there are certain obstructions that require eliminating plus I have need of someone I can trust”  
  
The carriage trundled through high iron gates and Sebastian Moran looked around, feeling more than a little unsettled  
  
“Wait a minute this is a bloody university”  
  
“Yes, and I am chair of mathematics’s here”  
  
Now it was Moran’s turn to laugh  
  
“And exactly who does a professor of mathematics want eliminating so badly that he seeks out Sebastian Moran eh”  
  
“Ah, the professor of mathematics doesn’t want anyone eliminating my dear colonel..but James Moriarty doesn’t care for those that get in the way of business”  
  
The carriage had stopped and without even being asked Moran found himself opening the door and waiting for the professor on the gravel, his head bowed slightly arm at the ready should he require assistance, something that puzzled him much later when he realised how he had acted.  
  
Moriarty smiled wryly as he stepped from the carriage ignoring the offered arm of the colonel.  
  
“Now Colonel Moran, this is where decisions need to be made, follow me through that door” Moriarty paused and pointed to a thick reinforced oak door “and it is taken that you have accepted not only the position offered but my leadership”  
  
Again he pointed in the opposite direction “if you wish to decline that path will lead you away from here”  
  
Moran smirked then chuckled “And I bet I wouldn’t get a dozen paces before you fire that hidden revolver of yours”  
  
Professor Moriarty nodded and smiled “So my dear Moran, what do you say to a bath, some warm, food and clean clothes, I do so prefer those in my service to look presentable even if you are a little rough around the edges”  
  
Moran looked into Moriarty’s eyes as he weighed up his options, not that he really had much of a choice, the silence was broken by Professor Moriarty.  
  
“You are my wounded tiger, Sebastian.  A dangerous creature without direction or purpose…let me guide you”  
  
“Professor” Moran whispered quietly, unsettled more by Professor Moriarty’s tone of voice than the words he spoke  
  
“Colonel Moran, you carry with you the horrors of war that few men have witnessed and survived.  You look upon the wealth of London and it makes you sick, as does your father”  
  
Moran tensed and tilted his head, he loathed how this professor of mathematics could see right through him, reading him as easily as if he was a text book.  
  
“Become my own Shiva, a vengeful destroyer..be my assassin”  
  
“And what do I get out of it sir?” Sebastian finally asked  
  
“Healing and revenge against a world that does not understand the true nature of the game, nor the thrill of the hunt”  
  
Colonel Sebastian Moran smiled, “Then Professor Moriarty, I am now and forever will be your wounded tiger”


End file.
